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DAMASCUS–SDF INTEGRATION TALKS ENTER CRITICAL PHASE
Foreign Affairs Dec 19, 2025

DAMASCUS–SDF INTEGRATION TALKS ENTER CRITICAL PHASE

The integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the Syrian armed forces has entered a critical phase, emerging as one of the central pillars of Syria’s fragile transition following the overthrow of Bashar Assad on Dec. 8, 2024. Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said Syria has formally delivered a 13-point roadmap outlining the integration of the SDF into the new administration, with further details expected in the coming days.

Editorial Team
REVISING THE PRESIDENCY: AKP’S NEW CONSTITUTION GAMBLE
Capital Currents Dec 18, 2025

REVISING THE PRESIDENCY: AKP’S NEW CONSTITUTION GAMBLE

The new civil constitution that the AKP has been calling for since the 2023 elections is set to become one of the key issues in the new year. Revising the presidential system, addressing the needs of a new peace process, and — inevitably — paving the way for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s renewed candidacy are the main pillars of this process. But any such changes would first require consensus within the party, and then support from the opposition.

Nergis Demirkaya
CHP’S UNCONTESTED CONGRESS SETS SIGHTS ON POWER IN 2028
Capital Currents Nov 28, 2025

CHP’S UNCONTESTED CONGRESS SETS SIGHTS ON POWER IN 2028

In 2020, the CHP held a “Power Congress” under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s leadership; five years later, the party is heading into another congress — this time under the leadership of Özgür Özel and with the slogan “Now Is the Time for Power.” After that congress, held with the claim that the party was on its way to power, Kılıçdaroğlu, now 76, not only lost the 2023 elections but also the CHP chairmanship. Now Özel, in only his third year as a chair at 51, is convening a congress with his own claim to power.

Nergis Demirkaya
RAKI AND DIPLOMACY OF WHO “WE” ARE
Guest Voices Nov 28, 2025

RAKI AND DIPLOMACY OF WHO “WE” ARE

When basketball player Alperen Şengün told an international audience that “rakı is our national drink,” he walked straight into a long domestic war over who is allowed to say “we” in Turkey. The outrage from certain commentators, demanding that the 23-year-old Houston Rockets center be punished for “promoting alcohol,” was predictable, not because of rakı itself, but because symbolic ownership of the drink has become a proxy for symbolic ownership of the nation.

Editorial Team
INTERNAL CRITICS RAISE THEIR VOICES, BUT ÖZEL'S CONTROL HOLDS
Inside Turkey Nov 28, 2025

INTERNAL CRITICS RAISE THEIR VOICES, BUT ÖZEL'S CONTROL HOLDS

As the CHP prepares for its 39th Ordinary Congress, the party dissidents escalated their challenge to the leadership of Özgür Özel. Former CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu,76, lit the fire by calling on Özel to take disciplinary action against people named in the corruption indictment involving Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

Editorial Team
ARM WRESTLING WITH AUSTRALIA ENDS WITH ANTALYA HOSTING NEXT COP
Foreign Affairs Nov 21, 2025

ARM WRESTLING WITH AUSTRALIA ENDS WITH ANTALYA HOSTING NEXT COP

Months of competition between Turkey and Australia has come to an end, as Turkey became next year’s host of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31). Australia will chair the summit, while discussions will focus on the Pacific, according to the compromise reached on Nov. 19, hours before the end of this year's summit in Brazil.

Editorial Team
REALIGNING CORRIDORS: U.S. ENERGY DIPLOMACY AND TURKEY’S STRATEGIC CROSSROADS
Guest Voices Nov 13, 2025

REALIGNING CORRIDORS: U.S. ENERGY DIPLOMACY AND TURKEY’S STRATEGIC CROSSROADS

In early November 2025, two gatherings revealed the evolving architecture of Eurasian energy and resource corridors: the “3+1” Energy Ministerial in Athens, bringing together Greece, Cyprus, Israel, and the United States, and the C5+1 Summit in Washington between the United States and the five Central Asian republics—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Guest Voices